Dysart Governing Board Meeting - April 22, 2020

001and we will go ahead and start with the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag United States of America and to the reason we're all thank you everybody all right we'll go ahead and go to the one the approval of the agenda form all motion to approve the agenda form consistent with the governing law policy and temporary suspend any policy with which the agenda may be inconsistent mr. president if I could ask for one variation and two agenda with the exception that item e6e removed from the agenda I'd approve them dr. Kelly Oubre excuse me dr. kaylis we can actually motion to move the agenda item during d1 motion to approve the consent agenda item with the exception of moving item E and then the number two action discussion it's correct yeah I

002was wanting to remove it from the agenda completely Oh move remove it from the agenda okay I'll second the motion all right 100 so I can advise do you think let's go ahead and vote and then we're removing yes that is correct we are reliving it and it's a gentle item eo6 one two three four five six motion be made by J Leonard's second and by Tracey story or sink though right go ahead thank you sorry there's something not working here hold on just a second see if it works right now there we go perfect all right motion carries thanks everyone all right we'll go ahead and move on to Section C one super antenna updates dr. Kellis Thank You mr. president members of the board and members of cabinet I would like to just

003give a shout out to all of our die cert heroes we have the opportunity over the last two weeks to finish up the NYSERDA hero patrol we had only gotten through a certain number of those recognitions before we were shut down and over the last couple of weeks where you were able to go out and using social distancing do surprise doorstep recognitions and present them with their their packets there's still more to come on that as we celebrate our Dicer heroes but it's always a good thing to celebrate the extraordinary staff that we have in Dicer there's been a lot of questions asked about what are the graduation plans for our seniors in Dicer there have been some great suggestions given and our administration is looking at all of those possibilities there are certain conditions

004that are outside of our control such as the University of access now the State Farm stadium is not certain that they can actually host our graduations on the dates that we are hoping so we are working with them we hope to have it nailed down a plan actually three options depending on what the circumstances are at the time and we are hoping to go public with that by within the next few days anyway hopefully by the end of the week and that's all I have to report we'll go ahead and move on with actual item c2 Governing Board updates I do not have any I'll just go ahead and go down the list and we'll ask both start with Tracy do you have anything oh just a couple had the opportunity to sit in and

005attend several of the CIP presentations via Google hangout the schools are feeling the pinch just like every other school is with regards to making sure that the teachers are doing what they're doing and the students and so it was good to sit in and listen you know the benchmark scores and what their their goals are going to be for the rest of the year so that was awesome to sit in last week participated with the Dicer heroes patrol a lot of the surprises were great to see on people's faces as we did yes practice social distancing and dr. Kellis would put the balloon in front of their doorstep and step back and so it was just totally awesome to drive all around surprise El Mirage Phoenix furia Buckeye it was just awesome to do it

006I participated in being a special guest and a kinder teacher check in with her kiddos it was great to see the kids actually on screen and just having a grand time seeing their teacher and the special guests popped in not sure if everybody knows that this week is National Library Week and so I think then any media specialist that's either in our schools those that live and breathe by the library and also in our regional libraries that we thank them for what they do also this week is administrative professional week and then also today is the Administrative Professionals Day and so I just want to give a shout out to Louisa Braun for putting up with the five of us and dr. Kellis and for everything that she does and greatly appreciate it and that's

007a good one Thank You mr. Singh well let's go ahead and move over to you miss Pritchard do you have anything no thank you thank you how about Jen tanner thank you thank you damn no updates thank you awesome thanks so much okay let's go ahead and move over to deed one motion to approve consent a giant agenda items and I'll go ahead and make a motion to approve the consent agenda items as presented second was that miss pertree yes thank you motion made by jailors it's not going to by miss Pritchard we'll go ahead and vote and that pastor to thank you so much and then we will go ahead and move down to e1 consent agenda items so hold the recommendation for approval of sole source vendor for the twenty twenty-one twenty-two sorry

008the Twenty twenty Twenty twenty one fiscal year we're in information sorry all right information f1 policy governance more monitoring of adopted policy section 11 school community relations dr. Kelly Thank You mr. president and members of the board members of cabinet are continuing monitoring of our governing board policy we presents section 11 and mr. croto will introduce to this item thank you doctor tell us mr. president superintendent callous members of cabinet in accordance with reviewing all our policies and procedures we present to you section 11 and there are no changes for this section right now and that's all I have thank you excellent let's wait I like it all right are there any questions from the board No going once going twice no sale all right we don't need to take action on this right correct

009it's important inflation perfect all got moved down to information item f2 bond committee recommendation for election dr. Kellis Thank You mr. president members of the board and members of cabinet Ken Hicks will introduce the Senate colleague and community members online thank you very much I need a participate in the board meeting tonight this is as the board is well aware a presentation and information was provided to the governing board last week with maybe a little concern of getting full understanding from our bond committee of the recommendations that were happening which was a little bit different than when we surveyed them there was a little disconnected that they were saying after going through the process and I created a survey sent the survey to the bond committee members the majority of them said to continue with

010the bond I sent them an email letting them know that my going to recommend the opposite of that that this is not the right time to be going out for a bond after talking with the board wanted to do circle back and make sure that we really a lot of things were in flux at that time movement so with advice and guidance from the governing board from the last meeting crafted an email encouraged everybody to reply to everybody so it wasn't a survey per se to collect more feedback and information and it was unanimous on this time after just touching base with him giving them the pros and cons of why I mean I was recommending the comments that I did to the board about not going out for a boar a bond in November

011and really delaying the process and we look at it in December January to see if it's feasible then and it was unanimous going forward at that point that all the committee members said this is not the time and in fact if you look at the agenda item itself I did cut a few comments directly from some of the emails that were submitted and so just to share them really quickly one of the comments from one person was I believe Dysart is doing an extraordinary job of being empathetic and supportive of the community in any way it can and I would hate to see that message inadvertently tainted by pursuing money another one there are so many fiscal knowns right now from the feds on down to the local level and then finally now is not

012the time to go out for bond because of the financial struggles of all of our of all communities at this time and so I think they they help put some really good points in there but just highlighting three of them they were all appreciative but all of them at this point and agreed that it was not the time to go out for a bonding the bond question and I will stand for any questions we're doing that I appreciate your extra attention to the detail and also the fact that you've added in the comments and given us some of the direct feedback that really helps us especially in this virtual meeting world to get some of that feedback let's go ahead and open it up for questions mr. Prichard do you have anything yeah just to

013kind of um just to echo I think mr. Lyon what you would just say I just think you can for taking the time to get back to those committee members and um again I didn't I didn't want to cause extra work for anybody I just wanted to make sure that they had an opportunity to express whether or not the situation had changed their perspective on going out for a bond or not so I appreciate you going back and connecting with them again to get their feedback so thank you very much for doing that you're welcome thank you mrs. Prichard I definitely commend you for bringing that up I think it's very valid and we needed that extra information let's go ahead and move to miss Tanner do you have anything no I got miss Densmore

014sorry no I do not thank you no just that echo the same sentiments as mr. Pritchard and yeah you mr. Lera thank you excellent thank you so much appreciate your guys's feedback on that and again Ken thank you for circling back with us I think that was great information and presented very well thank you alright we'll go ahead and move on to action item f3 the auditor-general direct spending report and we'll turn it over to dr. Kellis Thank You mr. president and members of the board members of cabinet and mr. Hicks will also introduced this item good evening mr. president members of the board superintendent dr. Keller's colleagues and community members let me take over and start sharing my screen [Music] share screen my screen Europe we see your zoom your zoom screen zoom all

015right so let's uh so I will do my job to be brief in this and I apologize this really probably should have been earlier we receive this report at the beginning of March and it probably naturally ties in with our audit report that we presented last board meeting and so I apologize for a little delay in that but the good news is is that the information when we presented the annual financial report back in October we did make some predictions of what the auditor-general dollar and all of those were accurate so congratulations to miss Francie will bellman and Lisa Smith who have an amazing job and do a great job of taking all the data and giving me a lot of information so they were right on exactly with where our dollars in the classroom

016was and so there are a couple new slides that the auditor-general put in the dollar in the classroom so just looking at the per pupil spending right now you could just hit in a few highlights you can see we're going from 74 84 on the operational this could be considered like the M&O portion of it the non-operational is the capital expense of it so looking at the M&O portion going from 7480 for up to 81 75 so a seven hundred and eleven dollar increase large increase with the majority of that increasing group increase is going to instruction and so that was probably around 68 percent of the seventy seven hundred eleven dollar increase went into instruction so that's a good positive it is important to note if you also look in comparison you can see

017our total was 81 75 our pure average was eighty five eighteen and the state average was eighty 19:05 so you can see we're doing what we're doing which is a great job in so many different areas and we're doing it for less money and less and spending less money doing it the main cause so i normally get a question which is why why don't we have more money can we get more money in that sense and so obviously school finance were prescribed by the formulas that are before us and the grants that we have and the title funds federal funds how they come to us so normally what this means is they we have in the state you have deseg funding you have small school adjustments you have bonds and overrides capital overrides we do

018not have a capital right a lot of our peer groups do have capital overrides what that allows even though that's in capital is you have a couple own right and then you transfer a hundred percent of your district additional assistance into M&O which increases your M&O from that standpoint so we don't have that even if you have a bond you're able to transfer some of that capital into m and l don'thave deseg and we're from the state average we're a little bit less than the state average in poverty and so that correlates to some funding in that sense so that is driving why we have less money also driving why we spent more instruction this is the year that we did the 10% for of the 20 by 2020 10% going into for classroom teachers

019with only 5% going to the other groups you can see that drives more money into instruction when you give raises more than that here is the new slide so there some similar data but this is putting it on a graph which is a little different is looking at our average annual average teacher salary and you can see over a three-year trend it going up and you can see then what the state averages and you can see the state average and 52 and we were at 55 we're 3,000 dollars above the state average correspondingly looking down below under measure you can see average year's experience so we are less than two years experience in the state average where the state average experience is about a little over ten ten point one ten point three and so

020we are less so we do not get teacher experience means we get more funding to create challenges when the governor and the legislature gives us a twenty by twenty twenty they use the state average as the calculation for enough money to provide that ten percent or five percent raise and when when you're above the state average means that you are not getting enough funding and so you're gonna have to continue to meet those obligations you have to use some of the inflation funding and maybe hopefully maybe you're growing and you could use some of the growth money maybe class sizes change a little bit and so those are some of the challenges but as you can see we continue to do a really good job staying above the state average and pushing more money into

021instruction so that's a positive known as well another new slide just it this is I'm showing an operational trend of the percentages and what they change versus 2014 to this year of the 2019 before and so this is new and I kind of like because before they used to have the percents across the top of how much is going to classroom you can see a change over the last 19 years this is a little better because I just like the five year snapshot of recent in that sense and you can see obviously everybody knows the 20 by 2020 is driving a lot and you can see that's driving that where our dollars and the percent spent in the classroom on instruction is going out where all the others are going down that doesn't necessarily mean

022we're cutting in the other areas it just means there's more fundings coming the greater majority of that funding is being directed into the classroom which then if you're holding something steady and the whole pot is growing it's going to have a decrease declining percentage and that's really what we're seeing on this slide as well here is one that I say I always like to lean on which is the rainbow report so this is the one that we did at the December revision going through that nothing's changed the only thing I changed is down under the FY 19 district AG's calculation I took out estimate because all of these were the same and did a good job with our staff of the predicting but this is where I like to see the corresponding that color coded

023it so you could see the AFR versus the auditor-general so you can see if there's a movement between the two and where it's going summary are reminded to the board is why I like this report more than the auditor general auditor general takes in all funds which includes say for example food service report or food service fund we cannot spend that money in the classroom so the we could sell more lunches and have more expenses and that's going to decline our percent in the classroom at holding everything else the same but that doesn't mean we put more or less money in the classroom and so I like to just look at those funds that the board has the most control over and are the largest in that sense thought to have the most impact on

024that and then make sure where are we trending on that and you can see for a budgeted we're at the 62 because we always have a carry forward so there's always going to be a little cushion but the 59 we're trending in the right direction continuing to spend more money in the class and hopefully holding administrative cost because that is where our community and legislators and everybody does not like to see pushing more and more money to the administration we understand it we know the value services they provide and and everything but we do try to keep a mindful of that and so looking at where we're budgeting 8.6 spent 9.3 previous year nine point seven slight going down nine point five but ten point two seven before and so you see a trend it's

025slightly downward you have one year it went a little up in that sense but all moving in the right direction and so we look at this as just kind of the 30,000 foot level of where we're at and make sure that we're continuing to move in the right direction on that and so so this isn't anything new you've seen this rainbow report and hopefully I can answer any questions that any of the board members have and I'll stamp questions or sit for questions thanks thank you for your presentation do we have any members of the board that have any questions and this is Jenny I do I had a I know one that passed that something that was generated I don't know if it was just something that I received because I had asked for

026or flight' all board members that I received but in the past when we've gotten this report I've also appreciated when we've got a similar report when it's kind of comparison to local charter schools do you have that in fro too I mean not tonight but do you have access to that info mr. president members of the board that's a great question I've never seen that report the Superintendent of Public Instruction every January 15th does produce a similar report looks a little different and I can collect a lot of that information and so I will definitely look into sending the board and providing how they and how it was broken up and it was really easy to see it was it was done in like a pie chart kind of work Dysart was comparison to so

027some of our local charters and especially when we hear stuff that you know we have so much going to administrators and things like that it was really nice to be able to show people like no this is the data this can be found online its public info but it really did show the comparison from you know Dysart schools and our spending and where it's going in comparison to some of those charge around so I didn't know if that's something that you guys would be able to do I believe we can okay I will work on that thank you Thanks that was all I had thank you there any other questions um I did had two real quick and this is Tracy and the first one was on the per pupil spending I think that was

028a page number three um quite honestly I thought I would have seen the transportation be you know what for 350 one to 360 from eighteen to nineteen I thought that would have been just a little bit higher for us I'm not sure why but I thought that there was something something last year that indicated there was there was going to be more costs in transportation mr. president members of the board probably the entire report and I just gave you a snapshot here it does also still look at a few other different indicators that but also that there are some measures that the auditor job looks I know some of them are miles per writer and cost per mile in that sense and we are high in one of those because the cost per mile so

029we do spend higher than the state average or appear average in that and so that could be because we have more special ed transportation going on which has less riders on the on a bus so the cost goes up from that standpoint but that's not our total overall cost that is just on a cost per Rider okay if that makes sense because I did have an indicator that was high in comparison to our peer group okay maybe because maybe I thought I was looking at something from last year probably like about May or June that indicated it was going to be higher but my next question is back to your rainbow report I always like looking at your rainbow report is this without causing additional work is this report available to our community mr. president

030members of the board I've only shared it with board members and cabinet and my staff kind of thing but I don't see why not it's all public information there's no well and and like I said not to make extra work or anything but I was just wondering that just so that our community can see that we are not overspending in particular areas and that a certain dollar amount is you know from classroom sight funds or the DAA and everything so I was just wondering and that was just a offbeat question I think it's a great suggestion and I could send it on over to Renee to find a place a good place on our website and you know you and dr. kaylis can talk about that later but it was just an idea so thank

031you very much Thanks do we have any other questions okay thank you so much for your presentation I appreciate the information also keeping things clear and concise is always a bonus so I always appreciate it especially on the zoom version all right next we're going to move just my screening screen here we're going to move to g1 actually discussion recommendations to approve the appointment of Douglas Prairie as the director of Transportation dr. Kenneth a mr. president and members of the board members of cabinet the board a couple of meetings ago accepted the resignation of our current director of Transportation Richard Moore who has done an excellent job and that left the vacancy and so after very diligent process we are bringing a recommendation to the board for approval and Ken Hicks will introduce his candidate

032you mean mr. president members of the board superintendent dr. Kellis colleagues and community members tonight it is my pleasure to be leading this agenda item as dr. kaylis just mentioned mr. Moore is moving on to a quarter life and we took up a process to screen the nearly we got it down to six applicants there are six candidates that committee was set up to review they recommended two final candidates for cabinet to interview that took place and from that Mr curry is already me mr. curry began working for the Paradise Valley School District as a lead mechanic he was temporary hired away by a bus vendor has a pension for diesel mechanic and came back as a vehicle maintenance supervisor and then for the last 14 years has been the director of transportation for the

033Paradise Valley School District it was a pleasure to talk with him and we are very excited about our opportunity to have Mr curry work with our current team to continue to move transportation forward stand for any questions excellent thank you for that and all your hard work and putting that together and doing the interviewing do we have any questions from the board they're just excited to get him on board me too excellent I'll go ahead and make an emotion to approve the appointment of Douglas courage to the director of transportation second this is Jen thanks Jen motion made by J Leonard seconded by Jen Tanner we'll go ahead and vote on that motion carries thank you for your votes thank you we'll go ahead and move on to action item g2 recommendation to approve notice

034of reasonable assurance to whose substitute employee language for the 2020 2021 school year dr. Kellis Thank You mr. president and members of the board and members of cabinet I'll turn this over to mr. croto to introduce thank you dr. Keller mr. president members aboard Superintendent Kellison cabinet I mean sheer we issue our no a letter of reasonable service to certificated certificated sorry - classified subs either hourly classified exempt classified or exempt admin whose sub for our district these are not ESI employees they come in and fill in a need when we have an employee that missed so this letter is to approve the language it has been approved by by our attorney and we presented it to you - evening to approve that's all I have excellent thank you great to hear a voice by

035the way go ahead and take any questions from the board on this item all right I'll go ahead and make a motion to approve the notice with reasonable assurance to substitute language for the eligible substitute employees for the 2020 2021 school year second miss Tracey motion made by Jalen Hurd second about Miss forcing fell let's go ahead and vote motion carries thank you for your vote it's going to move on to G III recommendation to authorize recommendation for authorization to issue notification of reasonable assurance to substitute employees for the 2020 2021 school year dr. Kellis Thank You mr. president and members of the board members of cabinet all things are done in order and so that leads us to this next item which is a result of your last action and mr. croto will introduce

036this item thank you dr. callous mr. president members of the board superintendent Callison kamut as dr. Keller has said things going order so you approve the language now we're asking you to approve the issuance of these notifications a reasonable assurance to you have about 20 subs that fill in at different times throughout the year it's not full-time employment but as needed throughout the year to cover like I said earlier our hourly classified exam classified or in some instances for our admin so for asking you to approve the issuance of these notifications I'll stand for any questions Thank You mr. croto appreciates you we have any questions for the Morgul no questions no questions I'll go ahead and move I'll make a motion to approve the issuance of the notification of reasonable assurance to eligible substitute

037employees for the 2020 2021 school year second motion made by J Leonard second date was that miss pertree gone and Samara thank you no mo seconded by John Densmore motion carries thank you for your votes we'll go ahead and move on to action item G for approval of luke elementary school and link Elementary's let's see luke elementary school and luke elementary school boundary changes el mirage oh thank you for that I knew that that's why I ran it twice all right let me say that again approval of el mirage elementary school and luke elementary school boundaries dr. Kellis Thank You mr. president members of the board members of cabinet after following a designated process established by state statute now we have brought forward this recommendation and dr. Pauline will introduce it thank you dr. kaylis

038mr. president members of the board cabinet and community as dr. toast mentioned follow a rigorous process not only sending notice to both school communities as well as the impacted neighborhood each household and holding two informational meetings one for elementary October Amish I'm holding a public hearing at the last board meeting and having an item it is also was put in the local newspaper and we appreciate their coverage of spreading this word so in each of those times we've asked for feedback to be sent to me and I'd like to give you a summary of that feedback received to in to emails in support of this change those two people felt like the school was closer and they did not need the long bus ride to Luke and therefore that brought concerns one being what about

039the eighth graders it's a big change it's stressful there's no bus to El Mirage what about a seat brought to school and they really enjoyed Luke and so you know alpha support and reassurance that and the one eighth graders can have automatic open enrollment back to the if they would like but also I put that parent in touch with the Amarok principal and they had a good discussion and understanding from the parent was it that her concerns were alleviated that her child could have a great 8th grader in El Mirage reassured the parents that we will support them through this change that yes there are safe routes to school and we will help them understand that and work with them on that and that you know it's God really enjoyed Luke and I enjoy no

040Mirage as well as great things going on I don't know our school and then find that when he goes to a question about busing which I answered that there no buses and going through that neighborhood at one of the purposes of this change so with that I will entertain any questions excellent thank you doctor I appreciate your feedback on that and including the feedback of the community and for working to answer their questions definitely makes a difference and do we have any board member comments no comment all right anyone else okay I'll go ahead and make a motion to approve the boundary changes as presented for El Mirage Elementary School and Luke elementary school beginning in the 2020 2021 school year second motion made by his daily learner seconded by was that Tracy yes it

041was Tracy stories think well thank you let's go ahead and vote I do not know why it's not showing up for everybody but that the the voting was was unanimous Section G five recommendation for approval resolution or during the call ordering and calling a special maintenance and operation budget override election to be held in in and for Dysart Unified School District number 89 on November 3rd 2020 declare the deadline for submitting arguments for and against the election as August 7th 2020 at 5:00 p.m. and authorize expenditures necessary to order notice and administer the election was a mouthful dr. kaylis Thank You mr. president members of the board and members of cabinet this item is one that certainly carries with it a lot of interest and a lot of concern by many on both sides of

042the question as we consider what it means to have this override in place and what it would mean if we did not have it in place there are implications on both sides of the question and as we are considering this recommendation this presentation for the board to consider I'd like to just make a couple of notations for your consideration as we heard Ken say with the topic of going out for a bond election there's acknowledgement though these are very difficult times for everybody in our community not just financial but emotionally socially academically physically there are so many lives that have been disrupted and we certainly extend our greatest heartfelt wishes or the best for our community under these under these circumstances and so that's why as we looked at the bond there are implications associated

043with raising attacks that the bond would have resulted in that would have not had been a favorable thing for our community as we look at the override however there is no increase this is continuing attacks those currently in place and so there was great thought put into the question is this the right time to move this question forward the answer to that has to be a well researched answer it's something that you have to consider all of the the different aspects of the question and what does it mean on either side if we were to consider not going out for an override in November it would be an automatic seven million dollar cut to the maintenance and operations budget because 80% of our maintenance and operation budget is in salaries then essentially you're looking at

044a seven million dollar cut in employees and that would mean that we would be basically cutting from our budget the number of employee hours equivalent to seven million dollars and that's just in the first year and then as it phases out over three years at totals twenty-one million so the question has been raised in this economy and with the SIRT current circumstances is now a good time to go out for this election the the thing I would ask that the board consider is do we as a district want to contribute to the unemployment by releasing 7 million dollars worth of of employees to be unemployed and drastically exacerbating the economic problem and the distress that our community is experiencing right now we have been so fortunate this last year that our employees even while the

045state has been closed per se that we have been able to continue to provide an income to our employees and that we have not been contributing to the economic and chaos of our community and to the financial stresses of our families so as we look at and the balance of continuing the tax as it is not adding to the tax burden of our taxpayers but just continuing as it is or creating a seven million dollar unemployment addition to to our community it it helps to just clarify the question of whether now is a good time so my question is it's a bad time to to be releasing that many employees into our unemployment ranks ken Hicks has had a committee that has researched this in depth and he will pick it up from here and

046continue to introduce this item thank you good evening mr. president members of the board superintendent dr. Kellis colleagues and community members thank you very much dr. Kelso it was an amazing introduction that really frames a lot of the conversation that that we had in the committee we did talk about the stress on the committee community even before this started going in this direction it was just in general being wise stewards of taxpayer funding is this the right thing to do the objective up front was to look at the override if we should continue it should we modify it and should or shall we change the areas that it supports and so looking at lots of different data going through lots of different questions as I explained in last board meeting the committee and then surveying

047the committee when we stopped the process to say gee in light of all that's going on record unemployment pending recession going on economic crisis should the should we recommend to the governing board to continue as I presented at last meeting it was you animus that yes this is so important and so vital to the success of our students and staff that we should continue with asking the question of the overhead and just as dr. Kellis mentioned it's not an increase it's a continuation as a reminder overrides are not stackable they replace so if we approve this override it replaces the current one that's going in and starts the calendar going forward but you don't add to it it just replaces what it currently is it is the same 15% it's not adding increasing funding the

048estimated tax is about 51 per the resolution you're passing it's really an estimate of where it will be in two years we're a little but 50 right now and so it's essentially the same cost going forward for our community but it was something that I think everybody takes very serious and dr. Kellis great intro also had that as we tried to look at earlier could we cut what would we cut how would that look like what's the impact and all of it came back to that let's continue with the 15% and let's continue and the areas that it's currently supporting and so with that I will stand for any questions thank you can mr. president there are quite a few public comments that have been submitted on this agenda item and now would be the

049appropriate time as is the process that has been established in this virtual environment the the opportunity to submit comments was the information on how to that was published online and as part of the public notice of this meeting and so melissa has collected those the process that I would like to suggest to the president is that she take this time and read through each of those comments that were submitted according to the instructions that were posted I would go ahead yes I will go ahead and read them they I will read the ones that have been submitted we did ask to submit the their comments by 5:00 p.m. so those that were received by 5:00 p.m. will be read I will be read I will read their first name and their last name before a

050read their comments Carrie Perez to whom it may concern I reject this tax increase in override we the voters voted five months ago and said no and for you to go and do this says that you don't even listen to the people if you can't listen to voters how do you even take care of our children the next one to whom it may concern this is from James penny it is my understanding that the dice are unified school district is considering the option to put the bond and override on the ballot again this November there are a couple of reasons I believe spending two hundred thousand on this is not a good idea first the voters made a choice last year that they did not want the bond or overwriting as neither of them passed

051the bond would add a tax increase to our homes and the override would continue one already in place people in this area were already struggling and what with what finances were available to them second and in my opinion more important are the events taking place right now the economy is in shambles people in large quantities are not working and many are not able to pay their bills including making their rent or mortgage payments no one knows how long this is going to we don't even know if school will restart on schedule in the fall or if home / crisis schooling will continue right now people are hurting the economy is hurting it should be in the best interest of any government organizations to help the people during this pandemic and not be looking for more

052ways to get money from them especially in this time when people just don't have the money to give it is my sincerest wish that you will consider the events going on right now and realize that now is not the time to worry about placing a higher burden on the taxpayers the next one is from trucks shari that's the email eric m smolts this is a lengthy email at this time I'm going to start the three minutes the three minute timer if it exceeds three minutes I will stop at the three minute time again I am voicing the majority opinion against the bond override just five months ago the taxpayer spoke and soundly defeated the last override we organized in the past and won't organize once again this time it is in the Dicer Unified School

053District's residents that they are in need of preserving funds for our families hit hard by the economic crisis caused by the code that 19 virus we almost live in the new normal economy our income has been stalled while our school district is spending at least 200,000 annually on a witch-hunt to augment the approved budget do we really need to have a school district producing and mailing a two dozen page high end colossi newsletter to every household in the district do we need to be providing free meals to every student in the district under through age of 18 do we need to be providing half-day daycare on demand we have lost sight of the fundamental responsibility of the educational system and the ability of the population to support the bureaucracy necessary nurture these unsustainable social programs

054Dicer Unified School District is a school district and education it and education is its primary purpose and as ratings show we are not doing well at that as the coded 19 pandemic takes its toll the district's shortcomings have surfaced why were we taken by surprise and unprepared to have an online curriculum available technology changed decades ago in our district is satisfied with traditional expensive classroom education if the current board has to understand the economics of the new teacher wages agreement and seek ways to dilute the burden and adapt to what the new economy can afford if not changes will need to be made by installing administrators and supervisors that can take that can take operate that can operate in a difficult kindness we will be facing in the years to come I urge you to

055provide responsible oversight to runaway governmental spending and understand the hardships facing taxpayers when we were prepared to organize against any unreasonable dye certified school district override thank you in advance for your consideration I'm gonna go ahead and stop the timer on that one and the next one is from Tom Vanek it is my understanding that tonight's meeting agenda includes the authorization of a ballot initiative to override the current operating budget for the district and that the override would essentially be an extension of the one that is currently in place I urge you to vote no on the authorization the initiative was just defeated in an election less than five months ago what good are elections if the will of the voters is not recognized do we just continue to have elections until the desired result

056is achieved then once that result is achieved what is to stop the opposition from continuing to hold elections to get their desired results how long do we play this game indefinitely who pays the bill for all of these fo elections the elected officials the taxpayers who benefits I think you know the answers to these questions now for the big question who are you supposed to represent and what is the right thing to do to fulfill that obligation I understand how conflicting it can be when your personal opinions do not align with the duties that you have been tasked with but as a professional it is your obligation to either represent the will of your employer which are the taxpayers that have already expressed their will or step down from your post please do the right

057thing and represent the people that elected you please vote to defeat this proposal and the next one is sherry Baumgartner or that's the email that is a sherry CISO sign sherry says so please do not pass the item we have already voted no five months ago during and during the current code crisis and the creation impact that will happen in the next few months on to the next year this is the wrong time to put this hardship on people and families this is very selfish on your parts to even bring this up next one is beth Simic dear doctor Kellison board I'm writing to share my hope that the dyes that Unified School District Board will approve the funding of the special election for an eminent override I've been a long-standing member of the desert

058community and I know the value and importance of having good schools all the kindergarten is still not being required by our state yet we have all seen the value of what all-day kindergarten does for our kids our fourth graders who didn't have any didn't have all-day kindergarten are still catching up academically socially and emotionally we can't allow that to happen to another group of tenors additionally we must have great teachers to establish the foundation for a life long lifetime of learning we cannot afford to lose the ground dizer has gained special area classes are critical to creating a well Brenda cello allowing children to study the arts utilize steam and be active creates lifelong learners encourages self-expression and promotes healthy lifestyles we need these classes and we need the teachers who lovingly teach these courses

059we too have all-day kindergarten and special area classes are wonderful but none of it matters if our buildings are falling apart it is at least 1 million dollars to replace a roof on a high school building we must keep our building safe and in good condition I strongly support the recommendation to approve Colleen a special ameno override election our family understands the value of having quality schools and we as taxpayers are happy to pay our share to build productive members of our society the next one is from Lisa Fowler I would like to submit a comment regarding agenda item G 5 on tonight's governing board agenda the Dyson M&O budget override has been in place since 2000 provides much needed funding for a school district state funding is not enough to meet the needs of

060our student and the override is a very is a very for a local community to give additional support for our schools I believe the funding is important too we can continue to have manageable class sizes employ math and reading specialists and offer essential programs such as music arts PE and athletics please share my support for placing the M&O budget override on the ballot for November 2020 the next one is from Michael Hutchinson members of the Dysart governing board just five short months ago the voters in Dysart voted by an overwhelming majority to reject another override even under normal circumstances it would be insulting to hold the exact same election over and over again at the taxpayers expense until you get the results you desire it is more even more egregious considering the state of our

061economy with many families deferring mortgage and rent payments and racking up huge utility bills in hopes that they can get back to work soon politics aside holding this election is just plain wrong there is no debate to be held it's wrong I urge you to do the right thing and vote no if you choose to ignore the myriad of reasons that you should vote no I certainly hope you'll be willing to stand up in front of people losing their homes their cars the retirement plans and their loved ones and tell them that giving pay raises to employees that didn't miss a single paycheck during the crisis is more important to you do the right thing the next one is from joan joann ryan and she just says keep it on the ballot the next one

062is celeste more ice mor a is yes I want the override to continue Twila is zoko Elma rog resident it amazes me that for someone and in parentheses J letter J Leonard stating January 4th 2020 they stand for the teachers etc and I cert to be the best it can be including fiscal responsibility sounds like mr. Leonard has forgotten his pledge once again the rest of the board members are blindly agreeing to try to pass this especially after they received their monetary bonuses you tried sneaking this tax increase in last year value to try again in 2020 remember you wasted taxpayer money in 2019 and lost and you're trying again what part of no don't you get the Dicer photos sent a clear message when they said no back in 2019 what has changed taxpayer

063drives have been upended with coronavirus 19 before that services are increasing such as the cost of water and electricity some people have experienced other financial hardships ie rent increases child support payment increases etc unexpected hospital bills only to mention a few first start I'm sure if I asked I would learn about additional hardships the taxpayers in El Mirage and Dysart school district face any additional taxes that may mean a family having a move sell a vehicle etc many more problems and an increase in their taxes could and will cost them once again I'm saying no to massive debt and higher taxes just to line your pockets the next one is Jenna cater lick hello as a parent of two dessert students and a teacher and I sir I want to be on record that I

064strongly support our override to be on the ballot this November 2020 when our governing board approves this then they will be continuing to represent the best interests of our growing community my next one is Kristina Bergeron we're asking for a continuation of our turn over right to protect programs and positions that are essential to the district please put on record that as a teacher in a community record I am full support of going out for an override in this election Thank You Dorothy Minnesota dear dr. pellis and board members and concerned citizens ice fully support the continuation of Dicer districts current override this program provides many programs that give our students the chance to explore learning in so many areas beyond the 3 R's our schools have art music and sports programs that encourage their

065talents enrich their lives our kindergarteners able to attend school the entire day which helps immensely with their learning and growth as future citizens the override is what pays for these programs and more and it must continue citizens of Dicer Unified School District join me and support for continuing override the next one is Jay Larson please put the override on the ballot again Tina Milica as a parent of two students in the Dicer district I fully support having the override on the 2020 election ballot thank you for all you do as Stella sono I Estella Soto support the override as a parent and a staff member of the Dicer Unified School District Amanda Moutai dear dr. Kellis in governing board I wanted to take a moment to express my strong belief that we need to continue

066reaching for the override I am both a parent and teacher in the district my husband and I also own two homes within the Dicer boundaries we feel strongly that we are responsible to provide for our children and the children in our community with the best education opportunities that we can as we look at the future we do not want to look back and wish we had done more we want to be able to look back and say that we handled students with all the tools in our box to build a better future they continued discontinuation of the override would be a clear message to students teachers in the community that our priority is our pocket not on providing the best funding we have to meet the demands of the of their multifaceted fast-paced highly asked

067at assessed data-driven future building well-rounded education we must continue and we must consider the best for the entire community while some may say that they prefer their funds to go to private school or local charter schools they are also they all they also are faced with the reality that they chose to settle within a community that depends on them to participate in funding education for this community it is important also remember that while each child may be educated at different institutions within our boundaries those of us that plan to keep our roots here will see all of these children grow up and serve us in this community this includes the vast majority coming for public schools the public schools let us not take away from these bright minds let our money speak for our future

068here continue the override let's see it on the ballots thank you for hearing my thoughts the next one is Pamela McDonald and Joseph McDonald dear dr. Keller says community members teachers and parents a five current or past D USD students we wanted to share our support of a continued override Jennifer Kline as a community member teacher and parent of three current Dicer Unified School District students I want to express my support of a continued override Virginia mazey happy Wednesday evening I would like to share my support for tonight's median agenda item G v regarding regarding the M&O budget override election request the override is important to me because I truly feel we as a community need to step up and help supply our schools with a much needed funding they deserve not enough money is

069given to our schools from state to help give our students the kind of education services they and teachers deserve we as a community want to see our good school system keep moving forward and turn into a great one with the continuation of the override that was passed class sizes can remain small a smaller class size means more time for teachers to spend one-on-one time with each student thank you proud parent reform amazing Western peek kiddos go fount hashtag go Falcons the next one is Marc Denver's it is lengthy I'm going to start the timer on this one dear members of the Dysart Unified School Board in the be September 2019 lose newsletter from Arizona tax Research Association published just two months before the last bond override election Sean McCarthy wrote regarding bond slash override elections

070quote voting on overrides has become quite the game districts now often asks before the rover ID reaches their fifth full year funding so they can try twice before funding begins to phase down over years six and seven of an override per the law districts openly refer to it as taking two bites of the Apple this process clearly mocks the notion that this is optional in fact an English common law voters are not to be asked to vote on the same question lest it strip the democratic rights of the voter in the previous election it isn't much of the democracy if a revote is called until the preferred outcome is achieved particularly would when the government calls the election and uses tax dollars to hold it a district should have the right to reproach its voters

071at some time at some point to ask for local funding but to do so just 12 months later is offensive to the notion that people have a choice I could not agree more even more offensive is the timing of this call we are still in the midst of a global pandemic entire economies are struggling people are suffering and hurting some are saying we haven't seen hard times like this since the Great Depression to even think about calling for a tax increase in this community at this time is beyond offensive it is reprehensible I am pleading with the members of the school board to forget about politics forget it forget about your hidden agendas and do what is right for the community five months ago this override election was put to a vote at great expense

072to your fellow tax pain neighbors by an almost unprecedented 12% margin of victory they stepped up and said loud and clear no to the fifteen percent budget override all the deceptive language spin and sleight of hand tactics didn't help the vote yes mob one bit the greater community saw through it and soundly rejected it although Queen Callas made unfounded and inaccurate claims about why the voters rejected the override in his and precious statement posted on social media hours after the election and although he overstepped his authority by prematurely stating we will be back next year to again State Committee support for these much-needed funds the truth remains that was and is not his decision to make in fact one could argue that governing boards exist precisely to keep rash individuals from making major decisions that

073could adversely affect tens of thousands of families this is not a debate about the pros and cons of public school it's about doing what's best for the community represent not just a fraction of the community not just those who you agree with or those you think you can confess benefit you personally but all the members of the community that elect you to represent them five months ago they stood up and voted no to a 15% override now you have the responsibility to represent them listen to them respect their vote you're sitting in that seat because they trusted you too present them respect your vote and I try to finish it but I'm off one sentence the next one is Heather al Sam as a parent committee member I want I want the override we need

074to do everything we can to support education in our community Lisa Martinez parent and PTSA president I would like to submit a comment regarding the agenda item 5 on tonight's port governing board agenda we have been a part of the desert school district since we moved to surprise in 2012 I am a huge supporter and advocate for the students and teachers our children deserve the best education possible and without the necessary funds and resources they will not receive the education they deserve I currently have one child at Valle Vista two at West Point and two who have already graduated out of willow Canyon I was a huge supporter of the 2014 override and when it failed we were devastated and fearful of what that meant for our children but we were back at it in

0752015 to push the override it was very sad to see the hardships the cuts to kindergarten created for families my children were trying to understand what school would be like without PE and music and other Arts Academy classes they were customed to I broke my heart to tell them the keyboarding band and coding classes that they love so much would be gone eventually why we can't let that this happen again our kids depend on us to advocate for them and their education so I asked you today please put the mo no budget override on the ballot for November 20 2000 Riya Bennett yes I support the override David Bourbon dear governing board please vote to approve the override and I think I mispronounced his name it's Birnbaum sorry Megan Harshman as a committee member I

076want the override is important we have funding for our students and teachers brandy more it is imperative to the success of Dysart Unified School District and the over that the override is on the ballot in November tami DeMars dear board members five months ago the members of the dais at unified school district voted by a 12 percent margin that they do not want another 50 percent budget override that was before coronavirus hit the economy went south and everyone was struggling to keep their heads above water please listen to the borders you represent that seat does not belong to you it belongs to us we voted no now it's your turn to represent our will joy coal both John Cole and I would like to register our support for item G 5 to support to approve

077a special maintenance operation budget override election we believe in this school and the importance of the education provided for a diet for dessert students we know and understand the critical nature of funding and the need for this override election and kristensen as a committee member a substitute teacher and parent of five current or past d USD students i want to share my support they continued override a net elmire i would like to submit a comment regarding agenda item 5 on tonight's governing board agenda please share my support for placing the M&O budget override on the ballot for November 2020 the override provides critical funding for our schools and as a parent of a child who went through a half-day kinder with the last overwrite when the last override didn't pass I know how important the

078full day kindergarten is for students that alone would be reason enough for me to vote YES in November and I know the current override provides for the arts and so much more Mike Muntz talk gradiant I feel it is extremely important for the Dicer override to be on the ballot this year our families need the resources we offer as a school district to provide safe learning environments for our children we provide more that we provide more than educational resources we are more than schools we are the extended family Hayden Pitts and please put the override on the ballot the override is essential for my success as a student and if it were not to pass my life would be very negative netiquette negatively affected Gavin Pitts n' the override is very important to be on

079the ballot as it helps provide further opportunities for a future generation and education Emily Manya the override should be on the ballot as it is important to D us DS success ELISA Horton the override is essential to my education as a student this is my future in my education the override needs to be on the ballot once again Emma Horton I really want the override back on the ballot is imperative to my success as a student in the Dicer district Sarah Horton please put the override on the ballot as a parent of students in the Dicer district this is very important to me Thank You Alyssa Horton the override is an essential part of my education this is my future in my education the override needs to be on the ballot once again Tiffany C

080say I'm sorry I'm a parent of two students who attend schools in the Dicer district I remember of the community which dizer serves and my husband and I are also teachers in the Dicer district as a parent we appreciate our teachers and school staff immensely we help provide splice we help provide supplies for our students and we need extra supplies whenever possible our experience and dizer has proven to be very positive when we are thankful for the high achieving schools that our boys attend when we first started in the district 43 excuse me four years ago full-day kindergarten was returning sports and arts and music frozen programs are also returning our eldest son transferred from a school where he had been in band for three years and he was experienced in skills we were thankful

081that band was brought back the year that we he transfers so he could continue to play the kids in band were thrilled to learn to play an instrument and they made a lot of growth that year the growth that the band directors have made is incredible and it would be devastating to lose those fine art programs again the same can be said for our sports programs many kids come to school because of their sports and arts experience to lose any of those who setting for a community both of our boys play on their school sports teams and in visiting it has given them opportunities that they will remember forever as a community member there we are willing to invest in our schools we understand that times are tough and it's scary for a lot of

082people however our schools are an important pillar in our community and we must invest in them Dicer doesn't has done an amazing job with transparency of funds and expenditures I appreciate that the district is fiscally responsible with the public funds the continuation of this override is an essential part of the school's budget as a teacher I have seen the difference between a school that offers art sports full-day kindergarten resources etc our students need the arts program than sports programs as many of those programs keep our students attending school those are outlets for many kids to show their creativity and while some kids thrive with academics others excel in the arts and in sports full-day kindergarten is impactful on her students in a positive way and it allows for them socially and academically to be prepared

083for first grade Rodney Moore dr. Kellis I would like to be put on record my continuing support for the district override that helps support all they kindergarten the arts athletics and funding the retention of highly qualified teachers as a parent of students who attend the Dicer Unified School District I believe my children continue to receive a first-class education while attending the district is in no small part to this ballot measure all the kindergarten helped my kids to get a head start on their academic journey giving them confidence that they continued into first grade all three of my sons have been members of band in both elementary and high school the band program has helped them to develop both academically and socially as members of high school athletic programs they developed a love for fitness and

084health that continues to flourish as they develop into young adults I would ask the governing board to continue to support our students and put the override on the ballot in November and this one's the last one pill Courtin please consider putting the override back on the ballots this fall and that is the last one and there were I think forty-three comments thank you for going through those and for your excellent name skills extra kudos for that probably one of my largest beers in the public arena yeah and I apologize in advance if I mispronounce anything I appreciate you for going through each one of those comments that's that's really valuable is there any more feedback on the staff before I turn it over to the members mr. president well let the board have the conversation

085at this point okay I'll go ahead and open it up for comment let's go ahead and just go down the list and in no particular order let's go ahead and seek comment from mr. Pritchard okay thank you um I'm actually just sitting here taking it all in there's a lot of powerful messages in there I have I have a lot of questions different thoughts I think I think for now notice my first question is I know dr. callous you mentioned that there'd be seven million dollars in cuts and phase one eighty percent of our M&O overrides and salaries but have we looked at have we have you been really taking the time yet to look at any other areas and when an 80% of salaries but what are some other areas that are or are

086there any areas other than salaries or programs that that directly impact our students that could be that could be cut if this override doesn't get on the ballot or if it doesn't pass mr. president miss Pritchard yes we are looking at everything and while there are some other areas that may total hundreds of thousands when you're talking about seven million it's it's not going to dodge our employees in any sense of the way but I'll let Ken Hicks give a little bit more information about just putting in perspective if we were to look at cutting other areas that did not impact employee salary what the impact of those other areas might be so mr. Hicks can you shed some light on that thank you very much dr. Calais mr. president members of the board yeah

087we did I did go through looking at some data trying to see could we without touching people looking at as miss Pritchard mentor member mentioned the other 20% and what that looks like and so a lot of that the vast majority of that is in outsourcing either special ed services it's in outsourcing our custodial and it's in our utilities there are some discretionary that we could cut all the discretionary spending to get a lot of the way there but to get over seven million dollars from that other amount without touching any person is nearly impossible could it be done I guess if he did it it would be done it would he have huge devastating impact across the district I know that um when you weren't had reported back on some of the feedback he'd

088received from our override committee one of the one of the pieces one of the recommendations that a couple of the members or became from the committee in general you said was that they asked about a smaller override but you thought that maybe that wouldn't be feasible or be you weren't feeling comfortable recommending not necessarily but is that something that I mean that was something that was appealing or more appealing to this group was to not go out for as much which then would maybe not be as big of a tax burden to our community it was I think only mentioned mr. president members of the board it wasn't voted on or really considered about there it was just a lot of questions being asked from every direction to see so know that that wasn't it

089it is a the entire amount is a dollar fifty on the tax rate currently so if it was less it would have a less impact on the tax rate I guess I'm it's kind of hard I apologize I not being able to see faces as far as kind of going off of nonverbal cues and if someone else is trying to jump in and and or something I just I think just some initial thoughts and again I mean just really taking in some of those comments um that we were just listening to - I mean just some thoughts that come to mind I mean I I am very concerned I mean even even prior to hearing those thoughts I mean I know we we've all probably considered them ourselves as far as the economic uncertainty right

090now people being unemployed losing homes a spending recession that's for a lot of the same reasons why we didn't feel the bond was a good idea that really does still apply as far as the situation of our families and our community members right now um you know and I'm I'm sure it's going to be happening so I'm gonna just throw it out there and and those who know me I probably don't have to say this but just for the record this is not an anti education anti-air comment this is not I think in this type of situation you may have people that are always gonna be against our override and may be always gonna be for and override in my opinion what's going on right now globally this this all that's put aside because we're

091in the midst of a pandemic we're in the midst of a you know again a pending recession to where that unfortunately nobody can plan it even if everybody's heart was a hundred percent into moving forward with an override or not I think that that's put to decide based on something completely unexpected that was handed to us that we're still very much in the middle of so um you know and obviously I'm open to you know Willis into the community comments I'm opening to listening to a view what my fellow board members are going to say but I do I do really struggle with that right now as far as just wondering - if it'd be a good faith effort you know to illustrate as you know as far as if we considered possibly not going

092out for an over bike right now just to illustrate how we're cognizant of the economic challenges our parents and families and community members are facing and you know perhaps that'll result in better community buy-in and support for this discussion maybe you know next year possibly I don't know I I just keep thinking about you know even I'm looking at some of the the bigger major companies out there right now who are waiving fees and deferring payments and you know for for families and for individuals out there who are struggling desperately again losing their homes are being unemployed you know people are gonna remember who helped them in their darkest hour and who were not or who were still asking for more in a time when people are just they just don't have anything to give

093so um you know it's not necessarily an issue for me of you know struggling with you know do we do we support of course of course I mean if it's not assumed or people don't know me of course I would never want to see a teacher let go of course I think teachers for what they do deserve tends more money than we could probably ever give them it's not a matter of that right now it's a matter of this whole pandemic and it's more of an issue of humanity you know that this this pandemic is somewhat of a game changer and I I don't think that we can you know again I dr. Collins kind of opened up by saying or opened the discussion by saying about how well we don't want to contribute to

094the unemployment rate you know that that may be true but again the majority of that that's looking at our at our particular just our district and in the bigger picture the bigger hole and I'm hoping that well first of all let me ask this to would we our teachers right now in staff members that are under contract that's not this is not going to impact them though correct for the next coming here right president miss Pritchard so the election if the board were to call for an election would be in November and the override would kick into gear starting the following academic school year so it would be the twenty one twenty two school years when it would start so this coming school year we are still okay but we can't defer the seven million

095dollar cut that will happen if there's no election there there's no getting around that part that would that would happen in the starting at 2021 2022 school year okay so in theory and I mean just throw this out there if since these cuts would not happen next year um we would how would we theoretically have time to see what the what the economy is gonna do people are gonna be getting their jobs back people aren't losing their homes seeing just just how financially our community our family members are doing and then if things seem to bounce back and this might be this might be a conversation that we could have next November and maybe even at that time whatever increase that staff were would not be receiving if this didn't pass maybe then for that

096override it's it's double its to make up for that year that they didn't get what they had hoped to had it passed the first time around I mean just different creative ways of looking at it but but again just setting ourselves up for success being mindful of what our families are going through not making it personal about any employee group or any any special interest area just looking at us I mean as a whole as a country as a you know our entire world we're all going through this and I I feel like we need to look at the big picture and I feel like I'm talking too much right now I need to listen to other people but those are my initial thoughts coming into the meeting and then after hearing that feedback from

097our community I just want to share that that's right now well I appreciate you going first obviously it's a huge responsibility and one of the reasons why I asked you to go first is because I always appreciate your well thought-out comments and and obviously your creativity I'm looking at other options and and I think the opening of this up to questions and and your input is very valuable and I appreciate that and thank you for going first and for looking at those and I'll definitely give you an opportunity at the end just to you know gather your thoughts and if there's any other questions we'll come back to you so I'll go over to let's go with Jen tanner okay so bear with me I wrote a lot of notes so I'm gonna try to

098just keep it on try to stay on the task here and not jump around too much we're losing everybody but I guess my first thought is is you know the a lot of the comments that were given against doing an override was regarding an miss Pritchard kind of commented on it too as well was kind of out wrong timing and I know for a lot of some of those for some of those individuals who really don't understand the importance of an overtime it's over right it's never going to be a good time but I understand where some are coming from as as far as like okay the world state right now what's going on and while I am empathetic to so many of our families that are struggling right now and going through not working

099I still don't want to take away what our students deserve and what what I feel that they need so dr. Cal is just to like Remis I just so I know I'm right this would not increase taxes I'm going to defer that to mr. Hicks and he can give the the more fiscal response summer there was some breakup there but I think you were kicking it to me and yes ma'am mr. president members of the board this is a continuation this is a continuing from 15% to continued for 15% and so it's at a buck 50 tax rate now is gonna kick okay okay thank you thank you yes that's okay I just want to make sure I know you know I say this all the time I think it's so much easier for people

100to like right now fear to say hey if it's not increasing anything would you be okay to continue on and a lot of people at least that I've talked to has said yeah it's not increasing I'd be willing to carry that forward once something's taken away and then having to increased it again I find that that's so much more of an uphill battle and then serving on the board as I know others did in 2014 when the override did not pass when we had to furlough employees when we had to get rid of programs I saw how hard that was to try and restore and we had a couple a few comments about how a lot of those effects are still being felt how those kind of carried with the students throughout the years and

101so and for me it's something that if I know this is right something that our that is the best option for students it's something I'm always going to fight for I know especially like we talked about like some families of course going through economic hard times how some are you know kind of their lives are just in disruption and to me that's even more reason why our students need to be able to come to a place where they can have those things that help them cope with some of these things whether it's their music sports just seeing that regular teacher that they're used to seeing every day to give them as much normalcy as possible and the environment to learn even if some things around them are unstable and kind of falling apart I would

102love for them to be able to still come to a place where they're going to feel like I can learn here this is a safe environment this is constant and again just given them the best opportunities as possible a couple other things I wanted to just comment on I think from the comments I know that a constant thing being brought up is well the voters just voted on this five months ago just voted on this when you guys get to take a hint and honestly I just wanna say if people don't like how the law is and the districts be able to go out with the overrides then go to the ones who make the laws and go with the legislators and and talk to them because for me if it's something we're going to

103continue to do and and I believe in something l heartedly I'm going to keep fighting for it until hopefully it goes the way that I I see is most important so that was just one comment I want to make for that and and also as a tax payer in this district and no longer have to into the district I know for me personally and for many around me that for kids and our students it's it's worth the fight you know nobody asked for this panda make to happen everybody you know there's so much of like people feeling that something isn't fair or and it's not it hasn't been good for anybody but to me I'm like I don't I don't want to put the future of our students and the best possible learning environment on

104hold just to see how the world is going to react to something I'm going to just I see what's for me what's right is giving them the best learning environment possible and I'm just going to continue forward on that so those are just my comments on this I think you must and I appreciate that thank you for your well thought-out comments and for your encouragement and also staying positive oh let's go ahead and go with Miss Densmore oh yeah I did have a few questions and some notes I've just been jotting down after all the community comments and other board members comments one one question that I have is about the override and and how that works with our budget so it's a 15% in add additional fund from our budget but our budget can

105change from year to year so I'm curious how that percentage is adjusted is it adjusted annually or is it a fixed dollar amount based on the election year that first election year mr. Hicks can you respond to that yes it's the 15% so it's not a fixed amount but for the voters and for the voter pamphlet we do have to calculate and estimate what that fixed amount is for that first year everybody it is a percentage of 15% of the revenue control limit going forward okay good question so potentially if our budget were to decrease at any point if we had lower enrollments or whatever reason we had a lower budget that percentage then would be then decreased and on the dollar amount would be decrease in the subsequent years right okay thank you I

106guess my next question was about the the 80% in salaries versus the 20% in utilities I know this is just really maybe only a month or so but have we actually seen any savings in utility cost you know with having our schools somewhat close it's not closed mr. president members of the board so it's not 20 percent utilities but utilities was one function of that 20 percent but 20 yes but but yes we've actually seen some really good savings for example as soon as this happened I know our facilities director contacted our trash company and said we no longer want two days that fast we only want one days of trash and so that cost went down we sell our water usage going down as we turned our buildings in the unoccupied we saw you

107electricity's going down we saw subs going down we still fuel going down and so we are doing everything we can to put buildings in unoccupied mode to reduce and save as much money as possible because there's other areas where the costs are going up there's some technology cost there's some support cost there's some other funds outside of M&O cash funds that when the governor said continue to pay everybody as planned we had expenses with no offsetting revenue and so those costs are going up as well and our food service fund there's one that we will probably plant on schedule two revenues greater than expenses by four or five hundred thousand dollars and now it's probably the opposite from that standpoint it's probably going to be an $800,000 swing or $700,000 swing from that standpoint so

108we do have higher cost but we are doing everything we possibly can to save every single dollar as we are currently going to help mitigate any of those that impact okay thank you and then I guess my other question is whether whether or not you know it passes tonight or if we call for the election in it and it passes or fails potentially with the voters how are we preparing for the possibility of a loss I mean what are we so I guess I I'm trying to understand what we are looking at to cut because I know that we always immediately talk about the the kindergarten full-day and the arts programs but is that an absolute or is would there be a subsequent vote to decide that if an election filled administration's decision or is

109that the Board's decision mr. president members of the board we have already had conversations in the Racine before as the override failed five years ago or beyond that six years ago I think it was 14 the IBA process was used to identify where the cuts and how the cuts would be implemented and so there's a very myriad of ways that we can go about with that okay for those not familiar with what IBA is can you explain that oh sorry I'm Adam mr. president members of the board that I appreciate that I've used acronyms so frequently and everything I assume everybody knows them our IBA is our interest based approach that we from certified staff classified staff administrative staff cabinets board representation to go through our budget process and a very collaborative manner that makes

110sure that everybody is heard and they would collectively have a consensus of what is what we're looking at and that process doesn't include just going out but improves going down and sometimes it also involves items that we'd like to look at as we say there's nothing there's no sacred cows or anything off the table we can look at different departments different uses of current things we we purposing dollars for other ways to get the most effective efficient use out of our taxpayer funds okay so primarily it is staff making those decisions correct okay and what stands more if I could just jump in and and say that that would happen and as we look at the rolling forward if we were not to go out this year and we say okay well we'll take the

1117 million dollar hit this year it would be another additional 7 million the following year and we would have to again find cuts for that and then another 7 million the following year so at some point either we go out for the election or we we cut that 21 million and I know that dr. Calais and I talked about this but you know a I'm curious you know are we looking at sir v8 surveying the community parents Guardian students educators to see what kind of data we can learn from them in the midst of this pandemic to see maybe what they're what they're liking or not liking about distance learning to see if maybe we can take some of that to our advantage and and do some budget cuts there mr. Hicks oh sorry I

112was gonna say that mr. president members of the board I didn't know well well yes I since I'm on tons of conference calls I do hear of other areas and where we are and yes there's a feedback collecting of how the remote learning is going on we're a constant conversation and discussion about what that looks like going forward how we could take advantage of it how we could take advantage of it for the summer school for the HB house meal 29:10 that was passed and if we were able to maximize what they passed in that to mitigate revenues in any of those cents so we constantly look at that I know I've talked to mr. Dean and some of the staff over and dr. pony's area about online high school moving it down into lower

113grades to get more opportunities some of that's not just to increase revenue sometimes that's a preventive measure so that students don't leave our district so we don't see a loss and they were able to recapture them or continue to serve them in the most efficient effective manner and I don't know if dr. polling or Jim Dean wants to speak about that as well I might just jump in mr. president member Densmore we are having conversations and looking at positive lessons learned during this time and how we can continue some of those aspects as we move forward part of that involves electronic learning part of that involves as mr. Hicks indicated pushing our online fool down to lower grades than we're currently offering part of that also looks like taking a look at our school current

114school calendar and considering the need to start building in electronic learning days you know every you know every so often in there you know as we move forward I will state that we were in a pretty good place to move to electronic learning with most of our students when this hit our our teachers did a phenomenal job we already have a lot of electronic learning pieces in place with the use of Schoology and so our teachers were able to move very very quickly within a week from in classroom physical instruction to online instruction certainly I you know we would also attest that there are things that we are learning in this piece that are not positive for all students with electronic learning and so the lessons that we're learning at this point in time both

115positive and areas for challenge we will put in place as we move forward to continue to provide the best opportunity for our students but you know in considering potentially a lower amount for an over I'd say I'm just throwing numbers out there say 12 13 14 % have we looked at we modelled anything like that to see how that would impact us positively or negatively mr. president members of the board member debs martini by modeling like like we could definitely look us are to the taxpayer but he's saying also what that looks like and where the cuts would be internally on both sides I guess but I guess from my point of view I think that it would show that the district what worked in good face just to show that the community that we

116are listening since the last election and grafting on those other concerns that were shared with us five months ago I think even if lowering possibly by one percent could potentially change the perception out there in the community for those that maybe were on the fence or maybe just thought that it was too much I know it sounds insignificant but as you know mr. Hicks 1% is quite a lot of money to the district so we have we haven't really modeled that at all or have those conversations I'm sorry I didn't I didn't hear the question in there it'd be difficult everything on line not catching we looked at the different cost structures with the committee we looked at should we change the amount that was a brief conversation you just heard the Auditor General presentation

117where we did less money than our average and we get less money than the state and this would only make that worse than the exacerbate the situation so we did not spend a lot of time on the expense side to show where we would make the cuts with that you would still have the challenges of an election and so I think I would just make an assumption here which this is an assumption so this is a my interpretation is that if you're going to go for the election and ask for it going for 14 percent although would show concern the average home would probably save about 18 to 20 dollars a year and we would not probably change how many people vote for or against it in that sense but that's I'm making an assumption

118of you and our conversation from that so we did not have extensive conversations of modeling the different decreases okay thank you I was done if you wanted to take over mr. Leonard sorry and Jay I think you're muted we lose him no sorry all right I'll just stop talking to myself and talk to you guys how's that sound no I definitely miss Densmore I appreciate your your comments and I feel like they are very well thought out and definitely added some good substance to the conversation on this this matter and appreciate that so thank you for that one of the things that that I've thought about just here for a quick second obviously I know miss Dan's bar wasn't here I wasn't here I'm not sure if Mitch mr. Pritchard was here at the time

119or not I believe she was but I know that just in discussions with the the past board members as well as some of the current standing we'll call them old-timers like miss Tanner you know it's it's interesting for me to just have discussions with them on what it was like to go through the cuts and what happened with the district when the override did not pass one of the things that I would ask I know dr. cows I don't believe you were here at the time maybe you were in a different role but is there anybody on staff that was here that can just kind of take us through maybe a three-minute here's what we were presented with here's kind of what happened and here's where we made the cut so that we can have

120just a little bit more history and put that history on record for anybody that would be listening at this point dr. Kellis mr. president members of the board I would not imply he is an old-timer but he certainly has experience and mr. Dean talk about what he experienced during that time I think I'm starting to become an old-timer mr. president members of governing board cast members of cabinet I I certainly would not be truthful if I didn't tell you that it was painful it was a painful time I've been in the Dicer Unified scholarship for 15 years and we during that time to my recollection we've only had one year where we did not have an override in place and that was the year that it failed and we had to phase out 7 million

121dollars during that year we laid off many many staff in in all areas we we laid off approximately 150 teachers we laid off many district office staff administrators were involved in that we cut down to a skeleton crew very very skeleton crew and truthfully while the work continues and and we continue to pile up many hats when there's one person doing the job of 4 to 5 as hard as people work the quality does suffer you know to a detriment educators work tirelessly to attempt to assure that students never see a change in service or never see a downturn in service however the reality is that when you have to cut 7 million dollars out of your budget in one year you're going to see a decrease in in service to this day we have

122a class continuing through our system that did not have full-day kindergarten that we continue to see that there were disadvantages to that piece for for that particular class additionally during that time we saw a decimation of our athletic arts programs we continue to see impacts of that again to this day we worked very very hard to get back to a position where we are offering outstanding arts opportunities for students outstanding band classes band opportunities visual and and and and 3d arts theater choir you know all the arts activities and athletic activities as well we continue to recover from that time however I we are still in a bit of recovery mode and not nearly as far down the road as we were at that time so it was a difficult time you know that was

123that was one year that we had to phase out seven million dollars fortunately we passed the override the next year and were able to kick the override back in however had we not done passed the override the next year year two would have brought another seven million dollar cut and year three would have brought another seven million dollar cut so that we would have had to cut 21 million dollars over the course of three years out of the budget as devastating as year one was I can't imagine what three years of seven million dollar cuts would be it was it was a difficult time we struggled through continue to provide the best education we possibly could for kids but there were services that were not available to students that were in the years previous and

124began again in the year the years afterwards thank you mr. Dana I appreciate that and it definitely helps me to bring perspective obviously not being here and just having conversations with like I said passport members that I served with that were on the work previously and then the ones that are still here that have dedicated you know over eight years I'm to serving on the board like mr. Pritchard must think Belton was Tanner definitely you know I just I see when when that subject comes up it's definitely one of those ones where it there's definitely some some tough decisions and some hard situations that were brought up and so it's good to get that perspective and I appreciate you being here for as long as you have and also giving us that perspective so thank

125you for that and I think you know as I look at where we're headed you know I remember dr. Plotnik you know if she was queen for a day and said I'll say if I was queen for a day and was able to pull out my crystal ball and look at what this next year was going to look at look like and then the year after that which will directly be affected by this I think we need to take into consideration some of the things that have happened in our past I think that that history that you just gave us is important to consider obviously it was an emotional time and I think we can take the emotion out of this and look at this from the people as a board that have elected us

126to do a job and I think that that's important and to represent them I can say for the record that I have had many conversations on the positive and I've had some people that have voiced concerns as far as communications I've received one email towards the negative and I haven't received any other emails in either regards to the passing or on bringing this back to a vote so I appreciate the we certainly three of the comments and taking the time to read those I also want to look at what we've done as far as getting our teachers raises and the the process of being Arizona and being in the lower paid teacher range we need to take into consideration that we worked and the teachers worked very hard to establish that 10% and we got

127the governor to listen and you know I'm not taking credit for this when I say we but the district was able to influence them as well as the teachers when they took their stand and we were you know the process was one where the government did help us to pay our teachers a little bit veteran as we continue to look at the future I think we need to take that into consideration what it took to get to the place that we're at now I think the recovery from 2014 when we had the cut I think we definitely understand a little bit better what that is and I think as we're balancing out the pandemic and the fear and the things I'm looking at this from a business owner standpoint because that's who I am and

128that's what I've done with over a hundred employees we've had to look at some serious you know options in seven different states where we have employees and we've had to make some some decisions and they're not always comfortable but I feel like we've done the best thing for the business as well as for our employees by continuing to fight the good fight and trust in the system and look at our leadership for guidance and direction and as we've done that and weathered the storm as a business we've come out and are coming out in in a good and a good standing I think that we need to take that into consideration as a district there are a lot of unknowns but currently we have to make a decision based on what we do know and

129based on the feedback that we've received and the feedback that I've received tells me that you know although there was a election and there was a vote that there are more people that I've discussed with that want to see this back on the ballot and most of them are saying that they felt like the bond and the override together was the deal breaker and that if we go back for what we currently have and aren't asking for the additional money that we were looking at that they would be more in favor of looking towards that and I think that's what gives me hope and and has definitely helped me see the importance of this as well as knowing that I'm doing the right things for the staff for the teachers and for the school and

130for the kids and representing the people that elected me to this position and at the end of the day making this decision ultimately puts it in their hands and in several months there could be major changes and they will have the opportunity to make that decision along with myself and as long as that along with the other board members to cast our votes in that democratic process and I think it's time for us to take it back and have faith in the system and listen to what the people have to say and I think giving them that opportunity to vote on it is is important and so that that's kind of my my thought process and just where I'm looking at this from a business owner standpoint and from the district that I've been a

131part part of for the last three and a half years and so I think I have one more first in my sourcing belt I'll let you go ahead and take the reins and and wrap this up for us and then I'll go to cause if anybody else has any further comments I'll ask one last time before we move forward so I'll turn it over to you Tracy and yes back in January 2014 I think I even said during that board meeting it was a dark day and I sir and to echo mr. Dean's comments yes it was a very difficult meeting and it was 143 people I remember that number that we had to phase out and but I just wanted to echo that real quick I have several things written down and so I'm

132just gonna take them one by one first off is on the actual resolution itself and this may be a can hexed question on exhibit b1 the third paragraph down it says that the election will be a mail ballot only election was it determined that in November 2020 was going to be a male-only mr. president members of the board no we actually on both exhibits actually here's the process and exhibit if it's a in person ballot and here's it if it's a mail-in and so I don't believe it will be mailing but I don't think they've officially said everything and so we have both things yeah number in both the ways no matter which way it goes awesome thank you you're on number two would probably be to dr. Kellis on one of the community comments

133regarding the community connect magazine that was sent out to our residence correct me if I'm wrong was that done on wasn't that funded by community donations um mr. president members of the board mr. Singh felt that was a very unique publication I believe it was well in the first and a very long time where it had ads in it and those ads covered the cost of the distribution the printing basically the cost of that magazine Community Connect magazine that's different than the achiever and which is another printed publication that is sent out to homes our process now is to Sam the achiever only to current students families that includes things like back-to-school and whatnot but the community connect will continue to be funded based on the ads just like any other community magazine thank you

134thank you very much um I had also heard in one of the comments that there was a 50% this was a 50% over right and I'm just hoping that they were thinking 15 not saying 50% but that's just what I heard keeping track of the yeas and nays it was 34 Nate yeas and 9 nays of course it could be more you know if we took a bigger poll or it had lasted past the 5 o'clock deadline or even before but I am thankful for those that actually took the time to go ahead and comment I took my own poll as far as asking speaking with residents from Waddell surprise El Mirage just to get a feel you know I explained what the override was even explained during what their feelings were would be during

135this pandemic and with my own poll I had five that were against and 35 that were for and the 35 that were for said that as long as there were no new taxes they were okay with it and so I just wanted to share that with the governing board also let's see the I know that the teachers work hard I know that the classified staff works hard and the admin worked just as hard and all of these groups that are here for our students they are all here to educate and that is our purpose and we need to support that purpose myself I just can't in good conscience vote no on this measure to me that the no vote would not only be handing several staff their papers to walk but to me that's like

136a seven million dollar slap in the face of this pandemic where we're protecting our staff we're protecting our students and above all our students and going down the road of not supporting the staff and they may also be having some other type of issues that have surface because of this pandemic I can't in good conscience hand them another slab and I do appreciate the comments of all of my fellow board members and yes miss Tanner and miss Pritchard were on board at the same time so they know what it was like to shave off or face down those funds and I I just quite honestly don't see how we could do that again and I am so glad that years ago we went out for the override the following year but really remembered 75 million

137dollars behind at that point and when dr. Kellis had you know was talking about the the issues earlier about you know having this issue during the pandemic like I said when I took my own poll the people were they just didn't see any other way around it and I like I said I'm glad I went ahead and actually spoke with them so I I echo a lot of what miss Pritchard says what miss Tanner says miss Dennis Moore and mr. letter and it is it is a difficult decision but I I feel that it is in Dysart's best interest to go ahead and go with it and better those are my comments thank you Thank You mr. Steinfeld I appreciate your thought your experience and your insight as well I think it's valuable to look

138at past history and definitely make decisions based on what our future is and looking at the whole picture so thank you for the insight is there anybody else that has any other comments I have a I have a question and then I have a couple comments I needed um mr. Hicks when does a final decision have to be made we have to let the county know verbally if we're going out for next election by June but changes can be made to a resolution all the way up into the end of year because and this is this all just kind of couple at once and I I mean this respectfully mr. sink bill but I I somewhat take exception to the comment of turning this into not supporting staff or how can we not support staff

139I feel like again respectfully I feel like that comment has a tendency to put one group against another whether it be the board against staff or the board against teachers or or whatever and again I am NOT this is not about special interest groups employee groups in particular this is about the greater good and the greater whole um any questions about not possibly going out for an override or any questions about looking at the other side that's responsible that's fiscally responsible and that is taken in consideration the entire community and I think that this board has been blessed with four more times than not getting along we enjoy each other we enjoy the people we work with but then sometimes it makes it very personal and it's hard sometimes to be able to then make

140some tough choices and because we have names for those faces and I don't believe I was there on the board in two dozen 14 but I do remember maybe it was I want to say there was another time when when something didn't go through and I so I I know I know what it's like as far as it is painful for me to even think about the possibility of losing staff but it can't I mean think of these bigger corporations that have had to layoff tons of employees or have gone completely out of business it's not because they don't care about their workers or because they don't care about what happens it because it's because financially this pandemic has taken such a nasty ugly toll that some hard decisions are having to be made so

141I'm yeah I'm assuming positive intentions so I I want to just clarify that point which I'm sure you probably didn't mean it that way but for the record I I just wanted to reiterate this is not well you know we need to support our staff meaning if we don't vote for this this means we're not supportive of staff and teachers because I'm telling you I used to be one out there with my kid on the corners with the signs to pass overrides and bonds every single time we've gone out I was at those walkins with teachers went during redford I did all of that I support I support our staff I support our teachers but that doesn't mean that sometimes I mean our teachers are one one group within all of what is in Dysart

142they are the vital part of what dynastar is with our classified in every administration everyone nobody has any no one's expendable or disposable at all but we also have you know our our community members not all of our community members are diced art students or parents and and again it's because of this pandemic that it's just it's a harder decision because in my good conscience I'm thinking how can I go out and ask them to continue attacks attacks which okay it's it's a continuation it's not a new one but it's still more money that we're continuing to take during the time when again we're facing a possible recession and these people lots of people might end up leaving Dysart because they're losing their homes so I don't want anybody who this like I said in

143the very beginning this is not about you know are you a pro education pro a pride person or are you not are you the big bad wolf against it it's a matter of what it regardless of what your typical viewpoint is of bonds and overrides that's to me completely separate because this pandemic has thrown everyone for a loop and it's put it into a new like class in and of itself so I I wanted to I wanted to kind of throw that out there to clarify it and then my follow-up to mr. Hicks was because this again for me is more more about this whole pandemic piece and the financial impact to our community if we have until June or July to get back to the county is there any reason why we can't wait

144and see what our economy you know my gut has said probably by the end of May beginning of June we're gonna we're gonna have some good information my name my crystal balls been in the shop for a while now so I mean I don't know a hundred percent but I think a monthly to two months is gonna give us a lot more information I didn't think Arizona's he--that speak yet with this corona virus so if there's a possibility or if the board is willing and open to considering tabeling it and so we can see what this what's the financial impact it's going to continue to be had on our community because of this maybe by that time as well we can get creative and looking at you know if we absolutely had to cut somewhere

145which we shouldn't wait and do if it if it fails anyway whether it's on the ballot or not we should be proactive I believe because again these are people's lives and I think they should be able to have some forethought and planning of who might be impacted and who might not be but I think it can give us some time to really look at all right what kind of what do these cuts really look like we say cuts but you know it is it a matter of well I don't know I just think we can look into maybe having some time to look into those other options might um my pack up a bit that's all I have well this is Tracy miss Pritchard in no means did I mean that you did not you

146were not supportive of staff or supportive of our teachers or classified I know that you are a true advocate of Dysart and the students and everyone involved so no no way did I mean that you are not I'm just saying in general everybody is here to educate our students and it is it's not it's not meant to be manat meant to be a dig or anything I'm just stating that we are all basically in this together and dirt even during this pandemic I just want to make sure that everybody is still supported and I know that the community is probably looking at it as yes I'm about to lose my home because my husband was just laid off oh now I just received a pink slip from die sir so now we've got to and

147I know they're going to be all different scenarios within the Weddell El Mirage and surprise areas I know that there's going to be totally different situations but I am looking at it from an overall point of view and if we need to get more information and I'm not sure what more information we can get or have mr. kicks mister kicks I'm sorry mr. Hicks run different numbers I'm totally fine with that but I'm still leaning towards calling for the overwrite continuation and that's just me thank you for that insight and miss Pritchard I appreciate your your comments and your thoughts I think you know you've you've definitely put together some some great ideas and in lieu of that dr. callous when is our next board meeting and if we were to table this to get

148more feedback would it be appropriate to open up for pub comments again would it be appropriate to I don't know seek some sort of public opinion poll what are our options if we need more information and want to get more public feedback before we make this decision and also in giving giving us a little bit more time to see how things start to change Thank You mr. president questions we have until very early June to do the for the board to call for an election as far as additional information the committee has done its research and has studied the topic and is making its recommendation if there are specific questions the board members have and we've tried to answer those as far as waiting to see how the the situation goes with a coronavirus we

149could I think the challenge there is that elusive crystal ball and I don't know that even by the middle or the 1st of June that we will be able to predict what the economy will be like in 2021 and 2022 which is when this override would kick in as far as doing a poll I think you're kind of asking for almost an election and to ask the people what they want and I think what the board responsibility here is is to determine whether or not to present the question to the voters not this the board isn't saying we're voting to to enact the override it's just asking whether to put it on the ballot or not and to clarify dr. Califf as far as what extra information it was because I understand we did get

150the the feedback from the override committee I'm talking about the cuts like looking at getting creative and coming up with different options of you know how how that might look and are there ways that we could do it in such a way that wouldn't have as hard of an impact on teachers students programs which again I know if it's 80 percent of our budget is M&O it's a challenge but looking into that and then again yes I know that what no one's ever gonna be able to know exactly what this let's turn the economy is gonna take but I do think that early June we're definitely going to get a feel for I mean if we're still in lockdown and quarantine and the death you know the death count continues to go up that's gonna

151be an indicator that things aren't turning around if you know we hit our peak under this month and things keep looking better and come June people are back at work and you know businesses are opening things like that the economy is picking up we're gonna at least start to see a little bit of a an unofficial trend I know that doesn't really define exactly what a trend is but we're gonna get a feel for we're still in the spot we're in now and I'm calling it rate is continuing to rise or things are turning up so that would be my reason for why wait it would be wait until the last possible moment in June when we can get to the county and say yes or no because by June I think it's gonna look

152different than what April is it's gonna give us some information yes mr. pitcher mr. president mr. Pritchard thank you for that clarification and just for my understanding if you're asking for to give it a better pulse of the circumstances in June we could probably get some sense of what things would be like in June my point was just that this would not take effect and for another year after that and so the environmental circumstances that we're trying to predict are so far out it would be almost impossible to to predict what what the economy would be like or what people's situations would be like at the time this would take effect I see what you mean by that comment which okay I understand I understand where you're coming from with that I guess if anything

153though as far as the community goes it's just that feel loved we're going outta depth perception - of going out right now saying we still want you to pay the higher tax in a time that is as devastating financially as it is for our families right now I just I almost feel like because we it's not even like I think if we were if we came close to passing the override the last time it might be a little bit different story not not with the situation because I still think if you know with the finances being away they are I don't I just have concern about going out in general but - the pandemic if it were a close call that might be a little bit of a different story would at least know that

154in general the community was behind it despite the economic situation but 12% is a lot and so you know if let's just say that it we're gonna get the same results if anything going out maybe another time would at least show like well you know when we were in that economic crisis the district you know they they listened to that and they were mindful of that and you know this again I mentioned earlier as far as like who's there during their darkest hour I mean it's like not all of our Dysart community members are students and teachers and it's more than that so again we all work in that realm so when we think of Dysart we think of our wonderful teachers and staff and our students and programs but we have to remember that

155we're not all of dinosaurs and all of El Mirage surprise Weddell all of our in our unincorporated areas so we have to still consider that as well everyone else is hitting everybody hard they're facing their own challenges and I think it would show a good effort and be very compassionate approach to saying you know if by chance by June things the economy is at least picking up I don't know I think I would feel better about it just ethically and morally to be honest with you I would leave that question actually up to the board to decide if you would like to delay or to call for the vote now that's that's really a board conversation um mr. Hicks you said that the county needs to know our answer by the beginning of June correct

156we just have to verbally tell them by the beginning of June and so I could just say yes we plan on going out but we have to finalize it by the end of June and so we could at that point modify it or cancel it that's a long time that's a lot of time to wait and see what this economy is gonna do that's like two and a half months well that's that's if I'm understanding this correctly the option you know whether whether we vote on it tonight or we vote on it for June we can still bring it back up in our June meeting when is our June meeting oh I'm sorry I'm looking that up right now it's on June 10th mr. president is June 10th okay thank you then and then ones

157are we have two meetings and two meetings before that or just one there are two scheduled meetings in May May 13th and May 27th okay so we still have a few meetings so with this recommendation is this a am I making a motion what are we doing here well wait I mean so if we're waiting what are we waiting exactly for to see if the economy is gonna change what what are we waiting for I guess I'm not I'm not I'm not making I'm not heading down the wedding I think if we can we have three meetings before June if we need to take this off the ballot we can so well it's not on the belly if well no but I'm saying if we need to make if we need to approve the resolution

158to move forward we still have three meetings that we could make adjustments or change if we need to based on the information and we're getting so I don't necessarily see any reason to table this if it was you know in my opinion if it was this was you know the final call and then we didn't have an option to make adjustments later I think tabling at me may show good faith but I think at the end of the day we can make a vote on it tonight and make a decision based on what the board wants whether we're moving forward with it or not and then revisit it in our June meeting and I don't know what we need to do to happen put on the agenda whether okay well then I guess I guess

159I didn't make myself clear I know in the past whenever I mean historically and I was elected for the first time in 2006 any time a board members asked a table for more information there's never been a problem with it but I guess then for the record I'll at least like to I'm gonna make a motion that we table this item until the June meeting is there a second second okay motion made by mr. Pritchard seconded by John Densmore do we go gave me a second I'm going to have to add a different motion here so just give me a second no problem Krissy can you repeat your motion motion to table do you want me to read do I need to read the whole resolution no no motion to table the item until one

160may be in order to continue to monitor the [Music] might of these the economic hardship facing our community and receive more information from mr. Hicks regarding how the staff would be impacted by phase one cut okay I apologize mr. Leonard when I ask for a second I was outside of my scope I wasn't it was quiet so I didn't know if anyway I'll put a single almost per second if you wants Chrissy I have motion to table the item to the June 10th 28:20 meeting order the water the economic hardships of the community is that good enough well but and also because I wanted to have some time to further investigate um what these phase one phase one possible phase one options would look like I don't know I wasn't anticipating making a motion like

161this I'm sorry I didn't make an emotion just a table Adam to the June 10th meeting I think would be sufficient well as long as there's as long as there's a reason why because it sounds like that it wasn't clear and it's not to do it just to do it right but in the right okay in order to monitor the economic hardships of the community and allow administration to so you continue to monitor the economic hardships of a city community come on mm-hmm continue to receive community feedback challenge investigate options in regard to phase one cuts okay sorry I don't type it as fast as you talk so in order to receive can receive community feedback and then what was the last you allow administration to further investigate options for Phase one cuts if necessary

162since seem like there's any absolute impending rush right this very minute and then to go back and undo possibly I just unless mr. Hicks I'm missing something I bet you didn't mention that there was a dire need to do at this very moment mr. president members of the board such a community oh but I think you're pushing the brakes here like on a reasonable basis I guess or because concern because I'm pandemic it's this is somewhat uncharted territory in this I I think that the depth of the conversation we're hearing tonight tells how serious the board is considering this this isn't a rubber-stamp this isn't a quick and easy this is a very difficult decision and so we have so I don't want to add any editorial comments at that point sorry okay so Chrissy

163I have a motion by you and who seconded you miss turns bar okay bori in his open thank you I don't see it on my and ELISA yeah I don't have the boat can we okay hold on let me try something I'm gonna have to delete the first motion yeah try it now they're not coming in no no maybe that they need to refresh their screen so I tried that and it didn't okay so at this point is because I had to add a motion it wasn't it didn't register so if we can do a roll call vote I'll start with Don Dez more yes or no or abstain I'm voting YES Jane Leonard yes no or abstain although yes Christine Pritchard yes no or abstain Traci sorry your sink though yes no or abstain

164abstain Jennifer tanner yes no or abstain no it says error that it could not be saved I don't know why but we have three yes votes one abstain boat and one no vote so the where the motion passes just ask for some guidance at this point for administration and the motion was to get some more information from administration about the potential cuts if I could get some understanding direction on is the board expecting the administration are asking the administration come back with seven million dollars in cuts proposed are you asking me dr. Califf I'm the board yes so what was your intention there because if I get I just I don't want us to continue to go down the road of okay first cuts first base cuts always means eliminating kindergarten I don't want to

165always think okay but we're always gonna eliminating the Arts I don't think it should be a Dunc always going right for that those those programs are obviously very vital very important I think there's more than one way to go about it I'm just asking that we look outside of the box and look at some other feasible options that even though is is probably extremely difficult is it's going to be finding ways that will have the very least impact to teacher students programs as possible you know being innovative looking at so I'm not saying come back with every single penny and and you know spend you know 20-hour days trying to figure it out I'm just saying come up with some some other ideas other than our typical cut kindergarten cut arts because I don't think

166we should just always start there know where that's all right funds were were designated to so that's what they cover so that's obviously why those but in the money but you know I don't know remember though in 2014 I mean that all that stuff was looked at I mean the same exact process was followed and and looked at and it it's almost impossible to try and do this without touching any of those things so one of the questions that I have mr. Pritchard is would you be okay with staff putting together a basic outline of what happened in the past so we can see directly what was cut and that would give you more information on after they went through the process and looked at everything basically what they came up with I think that's

167the only way we're going to have this in a reasonable amount of time without wasting resources putting together something that may never happen is that something that you would consider well into the honest with you mr. Leonard I'm not even necessarily asking I don't I wasn't on I don't believe I was on the board in 2014 I think that was when I was actually working for the districts I think you looked I remember being in the meeting when there was discussion about having kindergarten teachers go to different schools like when kindergarten teacher having to go to different schools so I was not on the board when that happened okay in any way so it's not necessarily historical data cuz I guess what I'm saying is why do we always have to do the same exact

168thing it seems like the arts always get the brunt of it kindergarten always gets the brunt of it and I know that yes we have to spend the money there because that's what we said on that ballot measure but we don't necessarily have to always cut from there and I think dr. calles articulated that during one of our workshops several weeks ago so it doesn't even I'm not asking for people to spend countless hours and resources coming down every single nickel and dimed what I'm saying is just think outside of the box with okay well we could also probably cut a little from this area or that area or maybe there's some vacancy money here that we're not I don't know just try to be try to think outside of the box be innovative rather

169than going for this what we always go for what our first go-to usually always is because it wasn't one I think what you're asking is almost impossible to put together because it's all going to be speculation so I don't know that that's gonna be good data maybe you can correct me if I'm wrong dr. keller sir mr. Hix but I don't know that that is going to really be a fruitful tree that is really going to help us make a decision I think the only thing that we could do is look at what we did in the past after going through the entire process and I mean that would give us who what weren't on the board a little bit better picture of what was cut but at the end of the day you know

170this is a new time and schools have changed things resources has changed obviously we have I mean there's been so much so much has happened in that time I just don't know that that process is gonna yield anything that's going to help right I think that's I don't really think that that's necessary either to be honest with you I mean that was an added extra because I really don't think that if we looked at cards that should be done in the last one if this override gets on the ballot and if for some reason it fails you know it's good before we're thinking in general but to be honest with you my main my main reason for asking for this to be tabled primarily is to see if by June the the economy is bouncing

171back people are getting back on their feet financially and and kind of go from there that that's my biggest peace hearing a little bit more from the community not saying going committee together again I'm just saying the community is gonna have this time now they know that they can continue to voice their concern but for me it's more let's see what the let's see what the economy looks like in June and maybe people feel a little bit better about where we are economically and cuz the last thing we want to do too is alienate our community anymore then some people already feel and you know I think we might be in a better place to reevaluate if things are better hopefully things obviously doesn't pass it's not just one year that we're looking at I

172think as as mr. Hicks has stated you know this sets into motion a three year you know seven million dollar cut each in each section and so that's that's something that we have to take into consideration I mean obviously we could put it to a vote again and again and again but I don't know that that's the right thing to do either so I think obviously looking at what we want to direct staff to do my recommendation and feel free to add anything or take away or give feedback on this but my recommendation dr. Kellis is let's look at a basic synopsis of where we cut in the past so that we're a little bit better educated on that section and then let's look at is there an opportunity just to receive feedback I know

173each one of us has a dice our email the people can access via the web page and send us direct communication is that the best way for us to use this time and hear what people are thinking obviously we had the website should we open up the website or should we just wait until June and see where we're at in June okay thank you for that clarification so what I'm hearing if I can just restate that is that you're asking that administration prepare information for the board including how cuts have historically been made and potentially president Leonard I can talk to you about a medium for collecting community input that can be shared with the board and as far as suggesting potential cuts I would just share that I'm hesitant to do that because I

174don't want to commit and have a board make a decision based on some suggestions or some some guesses or what-ifs rather than that be a much more well har did they agree with you there's no reason to start that process obviously there's a potential that we could face it and doing any specula speculation I mean even those documents getting out to anybody I mean it could be devastating to to all parties that are involved so I don't I don't think that going down that road is appropriate at this time there's never one doubt within the motion that we just passed we actually we added that part in there about looking at alternative options right and looking at alternative options we can get educated on what has happened in the past and that will give us

175the information that we can look at in the future how are we gonna handle this going forward are we going to continue with the same process that we did in the past are we going to look at is there another option that we can look at do we need to advise staff on something else and we have two meetings before this comes up again and I think that we can work something out that will be that will not only meet the motion but also give us a better standing as far as how do we represent the people and do the best job for Dysart and make sure that that we're well informed on the past processes and then like I said the speculation is stuff that I mean we can look at it just like

176you just said you don't feel like you know the all-day kindergarten should be the first thing or band should be the first thing I agree wholeheartedly you know we've worked hard to get all of those programs to where they are and make them the extraordinary experience that they are as mr. Dean commented you know it we're still not back to where we we would have been had we not cut or had to cut but it is what it is and so we have to make decisions based on that I think if we give some time like you had asked for mr. Pritchard but also directing staff to give us an education on the process so that we're aware at that and what their approach is will better understand how those cuts have been made in

177the past and I think that that will satisfy the resolution of how we would move forward if we had to take seven million dollars out of our budget for the next three years stick to the motion - and then I'll be fine well and this is Tracy I wanted to interject just for a quick second prior processes we've only done this once and that was in 2014 and at that time administration had brought us three scenarios a B and C and correct me if I'm wrong mr. Dean but I thought there was three different ones and we selected one mr. president members servicing to the best of my recollection you're correct yes so we won't have a lot of history because this hasn't happened several times so that you only have one to look at

178just just so you're aware it's just it's just one time that we've actually had to do this and it was three different scenarios and we picked one of them okay so this is done president Leonard you mentioned something about that the information getting out there and and in staff people staff members being in fear potential cuts but each election and even currently in our agenda we are basically putting a potential threat out there for our teachers music teachers band teachers PE teachers coaches kindergarten teachers how is that any different then than what we're doing now if we can just look at the whole picture to see what you know where we can potentially make adjustments and maybe make things a little bit easier instead of constantly threatening our kinder parents and kinder stuff I don't

179see how that differs well I'm just looking at as a speculative of something that's not happening our agendas and the things that we're moving forward with um I agree with you wholeheartedly I think we need to change our culture obviously bringing up the fact that all of those demographics that you just mentioned would be the first to be cut as a justification for what we're doing moving forward I don't agree with that either so I agree that we need to change our culture on that well the way we discuss it but I also think that directing staff to move forward with some sort of a plan that isn't an actual plan isn't I don't think that's appropriate well I do have to say too and every year when when the budget comes and we're talking

180either adding or subtracting it when it goes through the IBA process they are all charged with confidentiality that whatever it's discussed in that ivi process stays it within that within the confines of that room so that it does prevent like panic and fear across the district of oh they're talking about getting rid of this or they're talking about getting rid of this and it just so even just yearly honor on our ABA process there's there is confidentiality I could just interject to that in those previous times where the $7,000,000 had to be cut previously that was after the election results and it was something that had to be done to put it out there now and saying that these are potential I do believe that there would be some premature actions by staff to protect

181themselves meaning FLE and I would hate to see that if it wasn't something that needed to happen but from what I understand going back to the original question we will go ahead and prepare the information from the previous situations and look at a medium for community input so do we need to change the notion and if you feel like what mr. Leonard was there president Leonard was suggesting doesn't cover the motion then I would recommend you change that you we are but I'm saying if and I think this is really kind of turning into something bigger than it needs to be i we already passed the motion the way I had the way I had made it as far as coming up with some different options when I said that I wasn't meaning at all

182for us to come up with to kind of go through a whole mini IRB a process really come up with this trying document of who might because we might not be but it could just even be in a superintendent update it could just be you know I'm just just so I know that I guess for me I don't want it to be like it's the same old thing we need to be creative and innovative in the way we look at this then I don't think it should always mean the arts get cut or always me in kindergarten gets cut and so I mean it's a real possibility that this override if the board puts it on the ballot might not have I'm just not one for a knee-jerk reaction I'm just saying we need to

183start thinking about especially with how bad we lost the election the last time we should start thinking about that and then not necessarily always have to go to the same go to do the same standby so I just meant start thinking about it let's be proactive let's you know think outside of the box um but I did not mean for staff to spend hours or scare people away or have it be this formal document that's floating out in the community if I came across that way that was not my intention that's not what I meant so I want you to be mindful of that and consider that and but it's I'm not asking you for a full document but I do want that to be considered that's why I included it in my motion okay

184and that's why I was just asking for the clarification of the intent of the board for that backward meeting yeah well for June you mean yes and that that's up to you dr. Kellis I again my main reason for waiting to June was to see what the economy is going to do so we could be a little considerate of our community members and the economy and things like that the other piece of it if you want to it doesn't have to be this major agenda item it can just be like I said in the superintendent update if you want it doesn't have to be anything formal or or long okay I think that if I don't think we could put it in an update because of all the areas that are listed I don't think

185that would how is it different than anything else at my gonna especially like miss Tanner was saying as far as IBA meetings are you know they're confidential you know that that that type of information isn't typically out anyway while you're in the process as far as what's being considered this is just going to be a very informal and I wish I could give you just a very random example I mean let's say of course this is probably between on contact board members do not get paid so I'll put it out there board members got paid and we normally always cut kindergarten and so it's like okay we always cut kindergarten where else could we cut I know let's cut court the board member salaries or let's cut this area that's all I'm saying if let's

186just look in different areas if there are any or investigate those may be programs that I don't know all I'm saying is just let's be open-minded let's be proactive and innovative in our approach to looking at alternatives rather than always having the same things on the chopping block you know in talking about alternatives miss Pritchard I would like to just stress to you that we do have many times especially over summer we have natural attrition that happens we have people that you know back out of a contract maybe you decide to get a different position that's maybe a promotion for them there are people that decide to retire mid-year there's people that come health issues there are all kinds of reasons but people will have natural attrition and those are things that we can take

187advantage of without making those hard decisions too right but a 7 million dollar cut is I think mr. Dean and mr. Hicks alluded to that that is that is very hard to cover period I mean it's just it's that's a large deep cut into the district so I could just interject and go ahead rushon the board about sticking to the agenda as close as possible thank you yes thanks for that and I think dr. Kelsey do you feel like you have clear enough insight and direction moving forward do I need to retract my statement on yes I think we can prepare a report for the June 10th board meeting okay miss Pritchard are you okay with that yes thank you all right sorry to make it more complicated than it was I appreciate the discussion

188and the clarification I think that helped a lot all right so moving forward do we need to now that we've deleted this agenda item and we're adding it to the June 10th meeting can we just move past this or do we need to vote on this can you just leave it can't we don't take action you can move forward to the next item okay thank you all right so move down are we on each one perfect we'll move down to each one requests for future agenda items Mike anybody have anything no the only thing I was possibly going to ask for dr. Keller said in the in his superintendent update was regards to graduation thank you anything else excellent thank you I will go ahead and move to item I one and I will make

189a motion to adjourn the meeting second motion made by J Leonard seconded by mr. Pritchard or was that Densmore Pritchard thank you sorry I'm waiting for Dawn Dennis Moore's vote then she called her computer already did you know I don't I'm not getting the pop-up on my side okay you can just go ahead and give me a verbal yes Nora abstain to adjourn yes thank you done unanimous we are adjourned I appreciate you guys time have a great night thank you